Trying to do a 180*... Cant commit!!!

about 1 minute into this mark gonzalez demos the 180

Here are some tips that helped me:

1. Its hard to learn 180's on flat first. You may want to try doing it out of a bowl or some kind of grass lip with soft landing.

2. Its all about turning the head..which you've probably heard a thousand times. Try to touch your chin to your shoulder. That forces you to turn the head.

3. Speed is your friend...to an extent. Just dont try them going to slow...you'll never get it. A little faster will makes a big difference.

4. Put your back foot up against the crank and push the crank around to finish out the spin. The spin is all about turning the head, but that extra help from your back foot will make a big difference.

It won't happen over night, but once you feel what its like once, it gets alot easier. Just don't give up. I've been trying for about a year. I can spin perfect everytime, but only roll out about 1 of 4.

so sstalder5... how is your progress?

is it harder to do 180's standing still? I seem to remember learning them stationary and then incorporating them into rolling 180's

boostindoubles said:

is it harder to do 180's standing still? I seem to remember learning them stationary and then incorporating them into rolling 180's

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Depends on what kind of bike... I learned to do stationary 180's on my stock trials bikes before I learned them on a 20".


And as was stated before, its all in your head. Turn your head in the direction you wanna rotate, your shoulders will follow, and then your hips.

i'm trying to relearn 180s. eversince i tore my ACL weeks after i learned 180s i've been shook to try them again.
i can hop over 2 feet so i deff got the height. and i can do more then 180s on banks/quarters.... just not on flat.
i too need help committing once again.....

^^^ I feel your pain. In the recent past I tore my acl and I'm sketch on the turn outs after the 180. While wearing my brace I 180'd off a deck and was a lil off balance so right at the turn out I set my bad foot down and pivoted on it with serious pain following. Now I stick to just 3's.

got flat ground 180s this weekend on my 20.
was practicing on a tiny balcony at my sisters crib, doing 180s standing still, getting the bike around perfectly. something just clicked i guess.

took the bike out to the street, slight downhill. was going a bit faster then walking speed, a bit faster then my "safety zone" speed. a tiny carve, pick up the front, tuck in the rear and twist them hips. stuck it.

then stuck 3 in the row.
now its all i wanna do.
wish it didnt rain today, i'm dying to try them on my 24 and to throw one off a curb.

street riding is fun again!

sstalder5 said:

well ive been riding around on my beater steel framed bmx bike today.. and im trying to pick up a few flatland tricks. i can do most of the basic things like bunny hop wheelie ride backwards and i can almost do a clean half cab. oh and crank flips if thats any help at all but every time i do a 180 i get like 3/4 of the way around and i just cant pull out that last part... does anyone have any tips??? i ride mostly dh and xc so i have no idea what im doing

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usually when people aren't making a full 180 it's because they are trying to bunnyhop with a big kickout to get the back end around.... it doesn't work that way... it's more about turning as you're pulling up into the bunnyhop, then just lifting as you are rotating. there really isn't a "kickout" motion.

cmc said:

usually when people aren't making a full 180 it's because they are trying to bunnyhop with a big kickout to get the back end around.... it doesn't work that way... it's more about turning as you're pulling up into the bunnyhop, then just lifting as you are rotating. there really isn't a "kickout" motion.

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I was going to ask about that but it seems you answered it. I was practicing them this weekend and I can get them all the way around but I am totally using my inside leg to whip it around. Problem is I am always off balance and lose all momentum afterwards. I did one as you described where I started turning as I was lifting the front and it felt so smooth. Just have to master that feeling now.

Look how he's already at 90 degrees and he's still pulling up. Note how high you want the front end. A split second after this he's lifting the back end off the ground and still rotating. You really don't have to whip it around with your leg.

What foot do you have forward ? If you have left foot forward, you want to turn right... And vice verca...

Try hopping on a Razor Scooter. the motion will be the same and you wont be scared of crashing.

man, razor scooters seem scary. i tried riding one on some ramps a few months back - frightening.
hopefully the rain stops and i could ride tonight.
no curb is safe from my 180s....

Okay, I can stick'em pretty much every time sooth as butter, but I have come to the inglorious conclusion that I suck at riding fakie. I get one maybe two backwards pedal strokes in and loose my balance. Any suggestions there?

My break through was this: I kept trying to force it with my leg and it wasn't working, but the bad muscle memory was taking over. So I tried doing a couple in the opposite direction using some of the tips above. I must have reprogrammed by brain because when I went back to my regular direction, I got it first try. Weird.

damn it. i keep hopping with both wheels at the same time and spinning, not front then back.
help!

Try them over things. Anything. I remember having problems getting pop on my 3's, so I went out and sessioned over some speed bumps. Ending up practicing 180s while I was at it and it really helped out. Try 180ing up curbs, too.

Also, I always try tuck my rearwheel to my arse around 3/4ths of the way through the rotation. It's a style thing that I dig, but it's really helped me get stuff leveled out with all of my spin tricks.